How to refill Canon PRO-200 cartridges (CLI-65)

The Squeezy system is three parts: the cap, the needle and the red scabbard (needle cover).

1. Slip a red scabbard over the tip of the needle so it seals the needle. On the first install, fit it on and off a few times to break it in so it slides on and seals the tip.
2. With the scabbard on, place the needle over the cone on the cap and turn it clockwise until it is secure. Check that it is firmly attached.

2 oz bottles: remove the silver seal from the bottle, then screw the cap on securely. Peel the seal off, or cut a small X in the middle and peel outwards.

4 oz and larger bottles: these need the sealing O-ring. Place the O-ring on the mouth of the bottle and screw the cap on tight. Remove the cap and check that the O-ring has been pushed up into it. Then pierce the seal and put the cap back on.

1. With the scabbard on, squeeze the bottle gently. No air should escape.
2. Take the scabbard off, keep the bottle upright and squeeze gently. You should feel air leaving the needle tip. Do not squeeze so hard that ink comes out.

When you finish a refill session, put the red scabbard back on to seal the bottle. There is no need to wash the caps. Store the bottles upright.

You can refill two kinds of CLI-65 cartridge. Decide which you are using before you go further.

• Clear aftermarket cartridges: recommended. Canon's own CLI-65 cartridges are completely opaque, so you cannot see how much ink is left without weighing them. The clear cartridges let you watch the fill and check ink levels by eye. They ship without chips, so you move the chip over from each Canon cartridge.
• Original Canon (OEM) cartridges. Reuse the Canon cartridges from your printer. Each one needs a one-time modification to open its fill port. The chip stays where it is.

Do not convert all eight cartridges at once. Keep printing and deal with each color as its turn comes up.

1. When the printer shows a color as low, keep printing. No action is needed yet.
2. When the printer reports that the ink may have run out for a color, that is the cartridge to prepare and fill.
3. Work on only that one cartridge. Repeat as each of the other colors reaches the same message.

Once all eight cartridges have been filled and used, always refill or top up all of them at the same time.

Do this before you fill. The chip comes off the black Canon cartridge and goes onto the clear cartridge of the same color.

1. Remove the orange storage clip from the clear cartridge.
2. On the Canon cartridge, the chip is held by two plastic stems. The right stem is melted flat like the top of a mushroom. Scrape away only a little material around its circular edge until the right side of the chip lifts. Leave the left nub untouched.
3. Slide the chip to the right to remove it.
4. On the clear cartridge, slide the chip under the left nub, then lower the right side onto its stem.
5. Heat the tip of a knife or screwdriver and melt down the protruding stems until they mushroom and hold the chip in place.
6. Check that the chip is mounted flat and does not wobble.

1. Remove the sealing tape on the corner of the cartridge.
2. Put the orange storage clip back on.

The cartridge is now ready to fill. Use the Every refill steps below.

Original Canon cartridges are sealed with a small plastic ball under the top label. Press on the top of the label and feel for the depression. With a pointed knife, cut away the small circle of label above the ball.

A cartridge you have already modified keeps its fill port and plug. You never repeat this step for it.

1. Use the push pin to make a starter hole in the ball. Warm the pin tip with a lighter or candle and enlarge the hole a little more.
2. Screw the eye hook into the starter hole until it grips the ball and the ball turns.
3. Pull the ball straight out. Done this way it comes out cleanly without damaging the hub that held it.
4. Enlarge the hole slightly with a 5/32 in drill bit so the refill plug fits perfectly.

Alternative: if removing the ball feels too fiddly, drill a 5/32 in hole directly into the tank instead. The dimple just below the label works as a starter hole.

The chip cannot be reset, so a refilled cartridge still reads as used. The printer keeps working once the cartridge is back in, and it leads you through the messages itself. Just follow what the display says.

• If the printer says the ink tank may have run out of genuine Canon ink and asks whether you purchased it that way, answer No. It then allows printing.
• After more printing, the printer reports that it detected an ink out condition for that color. Acknowledge the message and choose to continue using the tank. On a computer, click OK, then Yes.

1. When the display tells you to, go to the printer and press and hold its Stop button for at least 5 seconds, then release it. This can only be done at the printer itself.
2. The printer shows Processing and starts printing again.

From now on the printer does not bother you about ink for that color. Repeat these two steps for each of the eight cartridges as its turn comes up.

With the ink level monitor off, you decide when to refill. Keep a mechanical tally counter close to the printer and click it for every print.

• Start with a target of 30 letter size prints, then open the lid and top up the cartridges.
• A 13x19 print counts as three letter size prints, so click three times.
• If there was still quite a bit of ink in the liquid reservoir side, raise the target a little, for example to 35. Aim to refill when the reservoir has little or no ink left.
• If you do not print much, a calendar based schedule may be enough.

Take the cartridge out of the printer and block the outlet hole before you fill. Use the orange storage clip that came on the aftermarket cartridge, a storage clip from your kit, or the original orange Canon cap.

The storage clips from the kits are not push-in fit:

1. Slip the cartridge's retention clip under the crossbridge of the storage clip.
2. Push down on the opposite side until the cartridge locks onto the clip.

1. Remove the plug from the top of the cartridge.
2. Slowly add the correct color into the reservoir (the liquid side, not the sponge side).
3. Let the ink absorb into the sponge on the other side, then add more.
4. Stop when the sponge side and the reservoir are both filled.

Push the plug back into the fill hole, firmly and all the way down.

Hold the cartridge over a towel or a piece of paper and remove the storage clip from the bottom. A drop or two of ink is normal.

• If ink keeps dripping after two or three drops, air is leaking in on the reservoir side. Put the clip back on and push the plug in again.
• Check that the outlet sponge has not been pushed up into the cartridge. If it has, pull it back down with a small needle or tweezers.

Put the cartridge back in the printer. When all the cartridges are in, print a nozzle check to confirm that ink is flowing and every nozzle is clear.

Top up all the cartridges in the same session. Each time the lid is opened and closed the printer uses about 0.4 ml of ink from every cartridge, whether or not it was refilled. Then start your print count again.

If one color keeps printing poorly after cleaning cycles, the cartridge can be flushed clean and refilled. The video shows the method on Canon CLI-8 and CLI-42 sponge cartridges.

Dry the flushed cartridge before you refill it. The video shows the method.